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Frank Reddy: Are there ‘angels among us in Forsyth County’?

Frank Reddy

Updated:
Nov. 26, 2017, 2 a.m.

A group of deputies comes to the aid of a man just robbed in his own home. A good Samaritan fastens a towel over a stranger’s open window during a rain storm. A car comes unhinged from a tow truck, all but crushing a man to death, and a medical professional comes rushing to his rescue.

In my brief few weeks here as editor of Forsyth County News, I’ve heard stories like these — tales of bravery and kindness that rekindle one’s faith in humanity.

Doing a good deed may not come easily or naturally for everyone. Pulling over to assist someone with a flat tire means throwing a wrench in the gears of our well-planned morning. Letting a car change lanes in front of you is an act that cultivates patience. Offering someone your place in line at the grocery store is sure to lose you five minutes of precious time.

Put the shoe on the other foot though. What if it’s you who’s in need? We’ve all been there. Try as we might to stay ahead in this life, sometimes our chips are down no matter who we are or what we do. That’s a fact. Here are some Forsyth County folks who very recently found themselves in debt to the kindness of strangers:

Last week, local man David Whited awakened in the early morning hours to find someone in his bedroom going through his wife’s jewelry box. The burglar fled the home as Whited sprang from his bed and picked up his phone to call 911.

Within minutes, Whited said, Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrived. They determined that he’d been robbed of more than $1,200 and was also missing a valued coin collection and jewelry.

By day’s end, deputies had not only recovered all of Whited’s valuables and cash, they’d apprehended three people believed to be linked with the crime.

In a letter to the editor, Whited said his head was “still spinning from how professional the officers were and how fast all of this happened … my whole family says ‘thank you’ to the sheriff’s department.”

Another separate letter to the editor filled with gratitude showed up on my desk just days ago. Robert Hoyt of Cumming penned the correspondence, titling it “Angels Among Us in Forsyth County.”

He recounted a personal anecdote last week in which he walked out of the county administration building as raindrops from a gathering storm pelted the parking lot. Arriving at his car, Hoyt found that “an angel” had taped a towel over an open window.

This apparent angel left a note on his wiper blade: “Nice deed of my day is done. Have you done one for anybody?” There was no signature on the letter.

Another act of charity, also occurring in a Cumming parking lot, happened on Oct. 31 when a local healthcare professional came to the aid of a severely injured man pinned beneath a car.

A tow truck driver was attempting to load a Jaguar onto his vehicle when the car came unhinged, running him over.

Local medical professional Dave Crittenden, who just happened to be pulling into the parking lot to go to Sprouts, heard a man yelling for help.

“I noticed the car had pinned him from the chest up … he couldn’t breathe,” Crittenden told Isabel Hughes, a reporter with the Forsyth County News. “He was talking, so he was getting some type of ventilation, so I attempted to lift the car a few times and told him to breathe, breathe.”

Crittenden said the tow truck driver began to lose consciousness, so he performed a sternum rub — a method to awaken a patient who is not alert.

“I had 911 on the line within minutes of getting over there,” Crittenden said. “They arrived and two pedestrians helped me (remove the car) and they got him out.”

Sgt. Gary Clark with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office said the man had begun to regain consciousness by the time authorities arrived at the scene.

“We’ve got a lot of good citizens in this county. They see something going on and they help,” Clark said. “We’ve got a positive community here — it’s one of a kind.”